I went to see Brewster Academy play at Maine Central Institute this afternoon. Great game, Brewster ended up winning by 18.
Brewster has 5 guys that are heavily recruited and a couple more that are getting some looks. MCI has a couple very good players as well. It was quite a change from the Twin Lakes Conference in NW Iowa I grew up watching.
Emmanuel Negedu - Very athletic. Reminds me of a shorter Doug Thomas. They list him on the program at 6'7", but can not be more than 6'4". Good rebounder, runs the floor very well, plays great defense. He had 3-4 great shot blocks. Does a good job of creating space when he posts up, but does not finish very well (Worse than Cyrus Tate). He did a great job of making free throws. Probably had 14-18 points and 8-10 boards.
Craig Brackens - 5-star ISU commit. I read that he is battling a knee injury. You could definitely tell that it was affecting him. He runs the floor well for his size. Very quick release. He spent a lot of time on the perimeter but did not shoot the ball very well. He must have only had 7-8 points and a couple of boards. I assumed that with him being a 5-star he would really stand-out, but the opposite was actually true. You can see the potential, particularly on offense, but I think the knee must have been bothering him.
Andre Walker – Vanderbilt commit. Very impressive player that made a lot of plays. Did not stand out at all during warm-ups, but during the game one of the best players on the floor. Did a great job of taking the ball to the basket and finishing. Good slasher and post player.
Andre McFarland – Idaho commit. Built like a linebacker. Good player. Seemed to be the go-to-guy for the team. His game is a lot like Walker’s.
P’Allen Stinnett – 4-Star Creighton commit, former ISU commit. He has the athleticism of Ricky Davis. His vertical must close to 40â€. It was amazing how poor of an attitude he had. During warm-ups, he must have dropped a dozen F-Bombs. Was constantly arguing with he officials and was put on the bench by his coach for much of the first half.
Dogus Balbay – Texas commit. I thought he was the best player on Brewster and probably the best player on the floor. Great point guard. Was impossible to take the ball from and keep from getting into the lane and all the way to the hoop. Terrific finisher. I would love to have this guy for the Hawks. And, as good as he was as a point guard or scorer he was even better on defense.
MCI had a couple of good guards in Evann Baker and Kareem Brown. Brown is a tremendous three point shooter. Looked and played like Rashad Anderson of UCONN last year. It was close between Balbay (Brewster) and Rory Spencer (MCI) for who was the best player on the floor. Spencer is 6’8†but can’t weigh more than 170 pounds. He was all over the floor on both ends of the court.
All in all, it was pretty good basketball. I was surprised how hard these teams played considering how many good players were on the floor. I was expecting one pass and shoot.
Brewster has 5 guys that are heavily recruited and a couple more that are getting some looks. MCI has a couple very good players as well. It was quite a change from the Twin Lakes Conference in NW Iowa I grew up watching.
Emmanuel Negedu - Very athletic. Reminds me of a shorter Doug Thomas. They list him on the program at 6'7", but can not be more than 6'4". Good rebounder, runs the floor very well, plays great defense. He had 3-4 great shot blocks. Does a good job of creating space when he posts up, but does not finish very well (Worse than Cyrus Tate). He did a great job of making free throws. Probably had 14-18 points and 8-10 boards.
Craig Brackens - 5-star ISU commit. I read that he is battling a knee injury. You could definitely tell that it was affecting him. He runs the floor well for his size. Very quick release. He spent a lot of time on the perimeter but did not shoot the ball very well. He must have only had 7-8 points and a couple of boards. I assumed that with him being a 5-star he would really stand-out, but the opposite was actually true. You can see the potential, particularly on offense, but I think the knee must have been bothering him.
Andre Walker – Vanderbilt commit. Very impressive player that made a lot of plays. Did not stand out at all during warm-ups, but during the game one of the best players on the floor. Did a great job of taking the ball to the basket and finishing. Good slasher and post player.
Andre McFarland – Idaho commit. Built like a linebacker. Good player. Seemed to be the go-to-guy for the team. His game is a lot like Walker’s.
P’Allen Stinnett – 4-Star Creighton commit, former ISU commit. He has the athleticism of Ricky Davis. His vertical must close to 40â€. It was amazing how poor of an attitude he had. During warm-ups, he must have dropped a dozen F-Bombs. Was constantly arguing with he officials and was put on the bench by his coach for much of the first half.
Dogus Balbay – Texas commit. I thought he was the best player on Brewster and probably the best player on the floor. Great point guard. Was impossible to take the ball from and keep from getting into the lane and all the way to the hoop. Terrific finisher. I would love to have this guy for the Hawks. And, as good as he was as a point guard or scorer he was even better on defense.
MCI had a couple of good guards in Evann Baker and Kareem Brown. Brown is a tremendous three point shooter. Looked and played like Rashad Anderson of UCONN last year. It was close between Balbay (Brewster) and Rory Spencer (MCI) for who was the best player on the floor. Spencer is 6’8†but can’t weigh more than 170 pounds. He was all over the floor on both ends of the court.
All in all, it was pretty good basketball. I was surprised how hard these teams played considering how many good players were on the floor. I was expecting one pass and shoot.
